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Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz has joined 1 million people in voicing opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, as a new poll shows that over 61% of the public in key countries reject the secretive nature of the negotiations.

Trade ministers and corporate lobbyists start meetings today in Singapore for the final round of ministerial talks for the TPP. If an agreement is reached on Tuesday, it could hand sweeping new powers to big business at the expense of national public interest laws.

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate economist, said in the open letter:

“The agreement presents grave risks on all sorts of topics   The TPP proposes to freeze into a binding trade agreement many of the worst features of the worst laws in the TPP countries, making needed reforms extremely difficult if not impossible.”

Meanwhile, a new IPSOS poll in four negotiating countries — the US, Australia, Chile and New Zealand — shows that at least 61% of the public oppose the secrecy of the deal. The poll was commissioned by Avaaz, the global campaigning group whose campaign calling for greater transparency and content reform of the TPP has gathered over 1 million signatures.

Jamie Choi, Campaign Director at Avaaz, said:

“This deal would hand mega corporations the keys to our democracies on a silver platter. Yet most people have never heard of TPP, and elected lawmakers aren’t even allowed to look at the texts. This poll sends a clear message: the people want proper transparency and oversight in this process, not a shady deal cooked up in secret meetings by lobbyists.”